The Logical Blog by IconLogic

PowerPoint 2010: Creating a Spinning Animation

by AJ George

Have you ever tried to use PowerPoint to create a spinning animation (such as the ticking hands of a clock)? If so, you may have gotten frustrated and quit because the most logical animation to use--the spin animation--spins objects from their center axes. To illustrate, let's say you made a clock, and it looks like the example below.

 

If you apply the Spin animation (Animations > Add Animation > Emphasis > Spin) to the minute hand you will see that it spins from its center axis, as opposed to the base. Rather than rotating from the center of the clock, it ends up looking something more like the clock below.

 

To work as planned, here's what you do.

1. Select the item you want to spin from its base, the minute hand in this example. (Ensure that the graphic is ungrouped by clicking it and pressing [Ctrl] [Shift] [G] on your keyboard.)
2. Copy the graphic ([Ctrl] [C]).
3. Paste the graphic ([Ctrl] [V]).
4. Ensure the duplicate graphic is selected and flip it vertically (Drawing Tools Format > Rotate > Flip Vertically).
5. Flip the duplicate horizontally (Drawing Tools Format > Rotate > Flip Horizontally).
6. Use the arrow keys to line up the bases of the clock hands.
   
   
   
   
7. Format the duplicate clock hand to have no fill (right-click the duplicate and choose Format Shape > Fill > No Fill).
8. Format the duplicate clock hand to have no line (right-click the duplicate and choose Format Shape > Line Color >No Line).
   
   The duplicate clock hand should now be invisible.
9. Hold down the [Shift] key while selecting the original and the duplicate clock hands.
10. Group the clock hands ([Ctrl] [G]).
11. Add the Spin animation to the grouped shape (Animations > Add Animation > Emphasis > Spin).
    
    When your clock hands spin now they will do so properly and look more like the image below.
    
    

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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Communicator and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

Adobe Photoshop CS5: A Few of My Favorite Things, Part I

by Barbara Binder

Photoshop CS5 is out and has lots of really cool new features.  I'm going to cover a few of my favorites over the next few weeks, starting with mind-boggling Content Aware Fill.

Content Aware Fill is a new technique that seamlessly fills a selection with similar image content nearby. For the best results, create a selection that extends slightly into the area you want to replicate. (A quick lasso or marquee selection is often sufficient.)

Here's how it works:

1. Open an image and make a rough selection. Notice that this selection includes some of the background.
   
   
   
   
2. Choose Edit > Fill and from the Use drop-down menu, select Content-Aware.
   
   
   
   
3. Click the OK button.
   
   
4. After a few moments of processing Photoshop succeeds in removing the selection and builds a wall in its place! For a long-time Photoshop user like me, this is nothing short of magical.
   
   
   

Not impressed? How about some more examples...

Here's a second example, this time, removing the lines of paint from the parking lot:

Now, let's be realistic. This feature is not going to work on every image, every time. Here's a third example:



Curiously, tree stumps appear as our cyclist is removed. Truthfully, I'm still impressed. Removing the stumps is a quick task for an experienced Photoshop user. I'm thrilled I don't have to build the railing, the sidewalk or the ground in the background!

Note: All images used in this training post are courtesy of Adobe Systems, Inc.

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If you are new to Photoshop and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe Photoshop class. Too elementary for your skill level? How about the Advanced Photoshop class? Hope to "see" you there.

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About the author: Barbara Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.